DRIVING THE WEEK:
- The House and Senate are not in session this week. Both chambers are set to return the week of April 9.
- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said a comprehensive trade deal with South Korea could be formally announced this week. The deal would encompass both an exemption for steel and aluminum tariffs and "broader trade issues," Ross said over the weekend.
- President Trump hosts a credentialing ceremony for ambassadors and lunches with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis today.
- Trump will travel just outside of Cleveland to Richfield, Ohio on Thursday to tout his beleaguered infrastructure plan
- Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) announced he will appoint state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) to the Senate, making her the first woman to represent the Magnolia State in the Senate. Hyde-Smith will replace Sen. Thad Cochran (R), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who plans to step down April 1.
- Another Republican House retirement was announced yesterday by Rep. Ryan Costello in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional district. With the double shockwave of the election of Rep-elect Conor Lamb in PA-18 and a new Congressional map leveling the playing field for Democrats in the state, Costello’s district went from light red to blue dimming his prospects for holding the seat.
CALL REPLAY: President Trump announced ~$50 billion in annual tariffs on Chinese goods following through on a threat that he says will punish the country for intellectual property theft and create more American jobs. The president directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer to announce within 15 days a proposed list of products to be hit with tariff increases. After a public comment period, the final tariff list, designed to target Chinese products that benefited from improper access to U.S. technology, will be made public and will take effect 60 days after the public comment period ends. Trump also gave Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin 60 days to develop a parallel measure placing investment restrictions on the ability of Chinese companies "to invest in certain sectors of the U.S. economy where it has sought to obtain U.S. technology," according to a White House official.
To help investors wade through all the noise, we hosted a conference call with Charles Freeman, the former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China and one of Washington's top China policy analysts to discuss the impact of Trump's newest tariff proposal. We covered a lot of ground with Freeman in just under 30 minutes - including timeline and prospects for negotiations, the scope of targeted goods and products and potential retaliatory action from China - to name a few. TO LISTEN TO THE REPLAY CLICK HERE.
CONGRESS TAKES CARE OF DEFENSE PRIMES IN ONMIBUS SPENDING BILL: General Emo Gardner writes the passage of final FY 2018 Appropriations had no surprises but plenty of good news for Defense contractors. Read Gardner's piece here.
GUEST SPEAKER CALL ON MLP'S AND INCOME TAXES: Find the replay and takeaways here.
AT+T/TIME WARNER | TRIAL KICKS OFF FAVORABLY FOR AT+T (T, TWX): The court seems inclined to reject admissibility of some key FCC filings and other evidence backing DOJ's vertical foreclosure theories. Read Paul Glenchur's latest from the court here.
WHITE HOUSE ISSUES BAN ON VENEZUELA PETRO-CURRENCY SCHEME | Joe McMonigle writes that oil sanctions are still on the table but paused due to Tillerson/Cohn departures. His piece here.
CALL REPLAY | USH, ACHC AND AAC AND THE FEDERAL/STATE RESPONSE TO THE OPIOID CRISIS: Listen to our healthcare team discuss rapidly changing Federal and State payment policies and what they mean to AAC, ACHC and UHS. Check it out here.
